Craig

Yep! What Mike said.

BJ a number of us have ballasted our boats to improve their performance. In this case you would have been better served by a double set of reefing points in your main sail. My ballast is lead plate mounted around the lower mast box in the foc'sl. I forget just now how much is there. Others have used bulbs cast to sandwich the keel. Seems one builder made a portion of his center keel section of lead. There are various ways to do this. You don't get enough lever arm to change the righting moment much: however, the trim changes are the real benefit. My boat sailed nose high and was hard to tack. Adding the weight tamed the tacking and eased some of the rudder pressure by changing trim. The best practice is to get a few hours under your belt to truly get the feel of what your boat wants to do; then, use sand bags to determine the placement and amount of ballest you need for your situatiuon. 30 kts is way too much for a full press of canvas on the VACs. The lead wouldn't have helped too much. It would keep the nose from being blown around though. By the way, have you heard of the BYYB SE Fleet?

She sure looks sharp Jake! Nice project and it didn't take three years 8)

Roger what are the overall measurements of the deck to fore stay attachment measuring up the the mast, Lower fore stay mount to the mast horizontally , And the over all length of the forestay from mast mount to lower mount. Also what kind of boat is this? LOA, LOD, LWL, and beam. Does she have a center board or fixed keel? The measurements you provided will not make a very effective sail, other than a real big stay sail. (Keeps the boat into the wind while ar anchor)

Roger what are the overall measurements of the deck to fore stay attachment measuring up the the mast, Lower fore stay mount to the mast horizontally , And the over all length of the forestay from mast mount to lower mount. Also what kind of boat is this? LOA, LOD, LWL, and beam. Does she have a center board or fixed keel? The measurements you provided will not make a very effective sail, other than a real big stay sail. (Keeps the boat into the wind while ar anchor)

Florin Pinta bult a Vac up there in the Peg some years ago. Haven't heard from him in a long time Eh. I think he was getting into river boats or went back to building aircraft.

Sounds to me like a good time was had by all! You learn more about sailing from the mistakes. Now you know what it feels like when a boat get close to the limits. Each boat is a bit different; however, your butt and stomach will tell you first. Oh ya, and don't sit on the main sheet

I like the spray method myself; however, it takes longer to clean the gun than do the work. Most of my varnish jobs are quite small or somewhere I can't stand the overspray. 8)

Mike yu know this Hoser has a spray gun hid in that shop some where!!! NICE WORK Jake!! She looks wonderful.

I was not aware that you were building for "them". We have a few on every board that just can't resist a cheap shot or to tell you how to run your railroad. Don't worry about them, the flat earthers will always be with us. Please stay and continue to participate.

News flash from Houston!!! Three will be here on the 5th of March, Garronteed!!! I had better get that boat over there...

That could be engineered Jake. My portable tank is in a locker under a seat with the feed line running under and out the laz to the outboard. I was told 56 times how this was not according to the yacht builder somebodies best practices etc, and that I would kill everyone within 60 nm of the fire. It has not gone up yet and the doors don't fit well enough to not vent any fumes anyway. Plus, no one smokes in the cockpit. Ever! Look for some solid filler spouts that will fit the tank threads and hose from there to the filler port. Fill real slowly and check the things frequently. I made my locker to have the the filler neck end of the tank to slide out onto the sole for filling. Of course at 12 gal a year how much of a pain can it be???? 8)

In the sun down here you can't even keep paint on them let alone varnish. None of the poly stuff lasts a full season and Rust_O's new marine varnish lasted just one year. Six coats and the top of the new sprit looks like hell already. If it ain't covered its gone!

Hey Dingo, good to hear from you again. Take care of the finger. Only ten to a customer ya know. I am holding at 9 and 7/8 due to inattention at the table saw.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. Three is due the 11th of March. Mike, Saralee made me hold my breath and suck in the gut for the photo. I've been stuck at 8 1/2 months for years now. Funny story about that tool box. 15 years or so ago Scott; the younger son, had an old car that was a real beater. Going to school over in Jax, he needed somethihg reliable. With out consulting me his mother gave him my truck and I had to go get another! My old Craftsman tool boxes that I had had for 40 years were looking pretty sad. Saralee suggested I paint them cause they looked so like hell. No sooner than I had painted them and Craig Jr shows up whining about needing tool boxes. Yep! wasn't 20 minutes and she had given him my rollaway. She did replace them with the SS version seen in the photos however. She thinks they look better. I need a barn or something to get my stuff out of her sight. Can't keep nothing for 40 years around that girl!!! Hum, I ain't looking so hot anymore either. Maybe better pratice holding my breath! :?

This is my verison of the 3 million dollar boat. She's nearly done. A bit more sewing on the bumpers and it will be ready to deliver.

I finally broke down and went with the plunger type, easier on and off.

This guy at work calls this "Making sawdust"!!! Some sawdust.....

Figured this out yet?

That is the trouble with boat shows down here and in PCola Scott. You damn near have to buy a boat to get in, then all they have is fishing boats or power boats for really rich people.

Frank your wife was right. I cheated and used pine and it still cost a fortune. When I posted to trailer sailer one of my friends blabbed and told everyone it was my first cut at the Vac. He told that I missed the 1/4" = 1'. Hell, I thought they were full size patterns. Anyway thanks for the info on this. It is a fun project and I am nearly complete. I couldn't wait to see how it looked. The thickness plainer I bought to do this ain't half bad either 8) :wink:

Great lookig boats Jim! It is 75 degrees down here today. Can you believe it. I've spent the whole day on taxes and plumbing. What a waste...

Jeff it will hold to the plastic OK. Just don't over torque it. I used brass plugs up next to the cabin bulkhead one in each corner.

I got the other pics Mike. Thanks. Sure looked like fun. I an slowly but surely working out from under the to-do list and may be able to get back n the boat work. I still need to fix that hatch cover too...

No luck at the wind surfer shop. He did have an $85 glass mast; however, it is only 2" OD. Kept pointing me back to the $300 tapered 15' masts. No clue as to what I was building even after I explained it. I had Sara's little dogs with me and his bird dog attacked my truck to try to get to them. He never did apologize for the scratches in my 15 year old paint. I suspect I can build this for ~$50 using my own epoxy and my manufacturer works cheap.